I watched High Fidelity for the first time this weekend...something about that scene where the nerdy guy is talking about Green Day's influences bothered me, maybe back in the 90's that was a reasonable conversation. But that was so cheezy when he played suspect device and someone at the store is like "is that the new green day?"

Mayhem Fest Saturday night was outstanding. Rob Zombie of course stole the show, 5FDP was great live, as was Amon Amarth. Got to see Born of Osiris just in time too, as we were running late. Best part? Right in the middle of a 5FDP song, the power went down. And didn't come back on for an hour and 15 minutes. Some drunk hit an electric pole and knocked it all out. Nobody knew what was going on, because there was no way to convey the message to us, so they found a megaphone, and went around section by section telling us what happened. Power finally comes back, 5FDP finishes, and Rob Zombie comes on.

Zombie plays his opening two songs, then says the following:"Well everyone, I've got good news and I've got bad news, you decide which is which. The bad news is, all the roads leaving the venue are closed, and there's no word on when they'll be open. The good news is, you all are stuck at a heavy metal festival. I know, a dream come true. So we're just going to play until the roads are open, even if it means playing albums front to back! So let's turn this from a concert to a full-on-Rob-Zombie-f******-party in here!"

The national anthem was played by Johnny Five with his teeth, there were robots and drum solos and huge balloons being bounced in the audience. Most fun I've ever had at a show.

GSdrums87 wrote:Mayhem Fest Saturday night was outstanding. Rob Zombie of course stole the show, 5FDP was great live, as was Amon Amarth. Got to see Born of Osiris just in time too, as we were running late. Best part? Right in the middle of a 5FDP song, the power went down. And didn't come back on for an hour and 15 minutes. Some drunk hit an electric pole and knocked it all out. Nobody knew what was going on, because there was no way to convey the message to us, so they found a megaphone, and went around section by section telling us what happened. Power finally comes back, 5FDP finishes, and Rob Zombie comes on.

Zombie plays his opening two songs, then says the following:"Well everyone, I've got good news and I've got bad news, you decide which is which. The bad news is, all the roads leaving the venue are closed, and there's no word on when they'll be open. The good news is, you all are stuck at a heavy metal festival. I know, a dream come true. So we're just going to play until the roads are open, even if it means playing albums front to back! So let's turn this from a concert to a full-on-Rob-Zombie-f******-party in here!"

The national anthem was played by Johnny Five with his teeth, there were robots and drum solos and huge balloons being bounced in the audience. Most fun I've ever had at a show.

My buddy and I got really cheap lawn tickets, watched Battlecross, Scorpion Child, Machine Head, Bodom, half of Amon, and like 6-7 songs of FFDP before heading out. Believe it or not, Scorpion Child probably put on the best sounding set on that tiny Sumerian Stage. There was like 40 people around. It was fantastic. I honestly didn't think FFDP sounded that great at all. It wasn't them that was the problem, it was the stage mix/loudness. We saw them on Trespass last year and they were infinitely better then so we just sort of said "screw it" and got out of Dodge. We're both at the point where we've seen Zombie enough to know what we're getting and even in his White Zombie days he was never a good live vocalist, so we couldn't even be bothered.

Had no idea there is an Ian Curtis wall in New Zealand. Story is that it somebody posted the message in 1981. City council has been painting over it since 2009, only for the message to reappear in the middle of the night. Finally it looks like Wellington City Council has given up the fight and are allowing the wall to be restored to it's 1981 form, even cracking a joke about how nobody knows who keeps repainting the message.

Wellington City Council spokesman Richard MacLean said: "In the tradition of the Curtis wall, the council is happy to turn a blind eye".

"It's supposed to be done in the early hours of the morning by persons unknown, so he's already broken one of the rules of the wall, but I would imagine we'll be fine with it, as I'd expect he'll do a pretty good job of it.

Almost all graffiti is a blight, nothing more than the mindless scribblings of vandals. However, there are very rare occasions when an individual piece of graffiti holds such appeal, it comes to be seen as an integral part of the cityscape. The "Ian Curtis Wall" in Wellington's Wallace St is one of those rare examples.

A memorial to the Joy Division singer, who committed suicide in 1980, was first painted on a wall in the Mt Cook street in 1981. It mysteriously read: "Ian Curtis Lives". Over time, the message moved to a different section of wall as it was constantly painted over by council workers and rewritten by Curtis fans.

It also changed to read "Ian Curtis RIP". It baffled those who had never heard of the singer, but the sheer endurance of those who kept repainting it ensured it became an institution. So it was that when the council removed it again in 2009, there was a huge outcry.

The memorial was soon restored in chalk, and has now been repainted by Wellington artist Maurice Bennett. This time, the council says its anti-graffiti staff will turn a blind eye. That is as it should be. The Ian Curtis Wall can no longer be regarded as graffiti.

It has become what those who painted the original intended: a monument to someone who inspired them.